Page:The Plays of William Shakspeare (1778).djvu/45

Rh The Comedy of Errors is confeedly taken from the Menæchmi of Plautus; from the only play of Plautus which was then in Englih. What can be more probable, than that he who copied that, would have copied more; but that thoe which were not tranlated were inacceible?

Whether he knew the modern languages is uncertain. That his plays have ome French cenes proves but little; he might eaily procure them to be written, and probably, even though he had known the language in the common degree, he could not have written it without aitance. In the tory of Romeo and Juliet he is oberved to have followed the Englih tranlation, where it deviates from the Italian; but this on the other part proves nothing againt his knowledge of the original. He was to copy, not what he knew himelf, but what was known to his audience.

It is mot likely that he had learned Latin ufficiently to make him acquainted with contruction, but that he never advanced to an eay perual of the Roman authors. Concerning his kill in modern languages, I can find no ufficient ground of determination; but as no imitations of French or Italian authors have been dicovered, though the Italian poetry was then high in eteem, I am inclined to believe, that he read little more than Englih, and choe for his fables only uch tales as he found tranlated.

That much knowledge is cattered over his works is very jutly oberved by Pope, but it is often uch Rh